texasmonthly.com: How did you come up with the idea for a story on tacos?

Patricia Sharpe: We stole it. In April 1985 Texas Monthly did a piece called “The Great Texas Taco Tour” by Alison Cook.

texasmonthly.com: Did you eat all those tacos yourself?

PS: No. We assembled Team Taco consisting of John Morthland (Laredo, El Paso, Rio Grande Valley), Eric Gerber and Bill Albright in Houston; June Naylor in Dallas and Fort Worth; and me in Austin and San Antonio.

texasmonthly.com: How did you decide which places to visit, given that there must be one taqueria for every ten residents in some parts of Texas?

PS: It was easier than you might think. We e-mailed staff members, friends, and Texas Monthly restaurant reviewers. We also had a wealth of tried-and-true places that we’ve done in two gigantic Mexican food stories, a tortilla story, and even Alison’s story. Then, the writers queried their friends and sources. We gleaned all that information, and our intern Brooke Ferguson made a master spread sheet that included every place’s name, address, phone number, and hours of operation.

texasmonthly.com: How long did it take to do all this?

PS: We started back around July. If you live in a city, you can spread it out over months. But when you’re visiting, you just dig in your heels and do it all at once. I went to 22 restaurants in San Antonio in four days. That’s about four a day. And I’m sure that John Morthland did the same.

texasmonthly.com: What is a taco?

PS: I decided that if they called it a taco, it was a taco. It didn’t matter if it was flat, folded, crisp, soft, flour, or corn. If it was labeled a taco, we tried it. I did this on purpose because I thought it would be more provocative. But also, I think it points to the fact that definitions change and Mexican food is an ever evolving cuisine—or a moving target. When I was growing up, there was exactly one taco: crispy, with picadillo, chopped lettuce, and tomato, and no sauce, unless you spooned on some of the really bad table salsa.

texasmonthly.com: How many tacos did Team Taco sample?

PS: 432.

texasmonthly.com: How many did you choose for the story?

PS: 63.

texasmonthly.com: How did you rank them all?

PS: We had a Taco Evaluation Form and a highly scientific numerical scoring system.

texasmonthly.com: Are you sick of tacos?

PS: No. Bring ’em on.

Never Miss a Story

Sign up for Texas Monthly's State of Texas newsletter to get stories like this delivered to your inbox daily.

Enter your email address

I agree to the terms and conditions.

The State of Texas(Daily)A daily digest of Texas news, plus the latest from Texas Monthly

This Week in Texas(Weekly)The best stories from Texas Monthly

Editor’s Desk(Monthly)A message from the editors at Texas Monthly

If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Leave them blank to get signed up.